Mustaqbal Says Hizbullah 'Put Itself in Accusation Circle by Protecting Suspects'

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday said Hizbullah’s leadership “has put itself in the circle of accusation by protecting the suspects” indicted by the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the murder case of former premier Rafik Hariri.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting at the Center House, the bloc slammed what it called Hizbullah’s “arrogant approach.”

The bloc also noted that the remarks recently attributed to one of the suspects by the TIME magazine “do not contradict the remarks previously voiced by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on the eve of the indictment’s release, that no one will be able to capture the accused whether in one year, three years or even 300 years.”

"The Lebanese authorities know where I live, and if they wanted to arrest me they would have done it a long time ago," TIME magazine quoted an alleged Hizbullah suspect in an interview published on August 18.

The suspect also denied all responsibility for the 2005 killing, saying, "I am innocent of all charges against me."

But Hizbullah denied the existence of such an interview, accusing the STL of “fabricating” it.

The magazine reported that the interview was conducted by one of its reporters, without identifying him. The location of the interview was also not mentioned.

Four members of Hizbullah have been indicted for the massive 2005 car bomb attack that killed Hariri while his convoy was passing the Saint Georges Hotel in Beirut.

Prosecutors have indicted Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Anaissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, for the murder.

Ayyash and Badreddine face five charges including that of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Anaissi and Sabra face charges of conspiring to commit the same acts.

The whereabouts of the four men are currently unknown.